BYU Cougars Football: 8 Teams We'd Like to See on Future Schedules
Looking at future Cougar schedules, it's truly amazing to see how far we've come from those halcyon days in the Mountain West.
Goodbye Laramie, Albuquerque, Fort Collins and every other wind-blown trailer-park outpost in the west. Hello Austin, Oxford and Washington DC.
But there are still plenty of holes in the schedule for the future, and much work to be done to fill them.
Sure, the schedule certainly needs some cupcakes, but for this article, we'll focus on major programs (with one exception) we'd love to see on the Coug's schedule in the future.
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UNLV Runnin' Rebels...Seriously
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UNLV
I propose a game every year. I know: Been there, done that. But bear with me for a moment.
First of all, Vegas is warm, close and full of things to do. Second, this is an automatic W in Provo or Crappy Sam Boyd Stadium.
Third, there’s nothing better than being on the side of a road team which has more fans than the home team.
A quick story. Two seasons ago, BYU played UNLV in Vegas. The place probably had only 20,000 in the stands, and 15,000 were BYU fans. At the start of the game, the PA announced that Cane’s (a chicken finger place) would give all in attendance a free chicken finger meal if the Runnin’ Rebs returned a kick for a touchdown, which they hadn’t done since Reagan was in office (or something like that.)
From the start, BYU dominated. The game was never in question. Sometime in the first half, with the Cougs already up by a few touchdowns, it happened.
A UNLV kick returner took the kick at the 1. He bobbed and weaved and ended up free at the 50. At that moment, every BYU fan in the place realized what this meant.
“Free meal!” In Provo those words start riots. In Las Vegas, it caused 15,000 opposing team fans to begin frantically cheering on the UNLV special teams player toward the end zone.
When he crossed the goal-line, BYU fans were downright giddy, and the place was louder at that moment than anytime that season (probably).
UNLV fans were understandably T.O.ed. Their one shining moment was horribly blighted. Many Reb loyals left at that moment.
But talk about good intentions gone bad. Poor Cane’s was inundated with folks sporting Y logos on their Ts the next Sunday morning, as Cougar fans poured into the place redeeming their free meal.
Had the kick been returned any other week, Cane’s woulda been out a few dozen meals. Instead, they fed a bunch of cheapskate Mormons on their way outta town.
I, for one, am not willing to give these potential moments up.
Utah...In November
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Utah—In November
Sure, the plan is for these two teams to face of annually, continuing a tradition that runs back all the way to when Brigham Young himself first passed for 340 yards against the Utes in a 44-14 win in Provo in 1860.
But the fact is, the nation’s most underrated rivalry will never be the same played in September.
Some are making a big deal about the game having conference championship implications on the line. But the rivalry was no less fun, intense or hard-fought in years when the league title wasn’t on the line. As Clemson and South Carolina. And the numbers show BYU dominated Utah in conference performance in the recent past anyway.
But Utah’s departed for the Pac-12, and that league’s pedantic schedule-makers only allow the vaunted USC to schedule non-conference games during rivalry week.
As such, we’re stuck in this early season rivalry slot, which is better than nothing, but not the way the game between these two foes was meant to be played.
Arizona State Sun Devils
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Arizona State Sun Devils
This is a no-brainer, as long as the game is in late October or early November, in The Grand Canyon State. Cougar fans would flock to the warmth and golf-friendly confines of the greater Phoenix area, and mesh with the grundle of BYU fans already in-residence down there to create an awesome, rivalrous atmosphere.
Plus, they could play in University of Phoenix Stadium where both fan-bases would probably deliver over 20,000 spectators.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Wisconsin Badgers
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Wisconsin
There’s intrigue in contrast, and there may not be any greater contrast in offensive philosophies than these two programs.
Wisconsin has big horses up front who open up holes big enough to deliver 5 yards a carry, while Brandon Doman and the Cougars sling the ball all over the field.
We saw from the Rose Bowl last season that top non-BCS teams can contend (and usually beat) top BCS-league programs, and this would be yet another great matchup of that flavor.
USC Trojans
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USC
Ask USC what the fastest way to sell out Memorial Stadium is and guess what they’ll tell you? “Schedule a U2 Concert.”
The second fastest way is “Schedule BYU.” With the LDS population in SoCal, and the national interest and respect for USC, this series could be re-ignited from the pretty entertaining games of the early 2000s.
It’s also interesting as USC has become a destination for top Polynesian athletes, pitting the Cougars and Trojans up against each other for recruits. This game would be a natural extension of that off-the-field rivalry and give the recruits bragging rights.
Auburn
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Auburn
This game would interest BYU fans and the nation, as two schools with polar-opposite recruiting approaches would square off in a battle of Stickler For the Rules Cougars and Name Your Price Tigers.
Tiger fans would be very surprised to see how well “them boys from Provo” play against their highly-paid blue chips.
Clemson Tigers
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Clemson
Admittedly, I have a bias, having lived there briefly. But these two schools would make for a great early-season non-conference matchup.
Both schools play in geographically stunning locales. A home-and-home would deliver a cross-country, non-traditional setup which would give solid exposure to both sides.
And Death Valley is an amazing venue for college football, in one of the nation’s true college towns.
Ohio State Buckeyes
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The Ohio State University
You can talk up Notre Dame all you want, but I’ll put Columbus up there with any place in terms of amazing Fall Saturday atmosphere.
This series would give the Cougs a chance to play in the Horseshoe, the Buckeyes an opportunity to see mountains for the first time in Provo, and the Cougars could get them while they’re short a ton of scholarships.
Buckeye players would be disappointed to discover how hard it is to find a good tattoo parlor in Provo.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
